ZEALZ GK802 / HI802 mini PC Can Now Run Ubuntu 11.10

After Freescale made available i.MX6 development resources, we all knew this was a matter of time before Ubuntu runs on Hi802 / Zealz GK802 mini PC based on Freescale i.MX6. The guys at GeekBuying have done it, and a beta version of Ubuntu 11.10 can run on the Zealz GK802. This is not the first time Ubuntu or another Linux distributions can run on one of these mini PCs, but it’s the very first time we should get full hardware graphics and hardware video decoding in Linux.

You may have noticed the screen is cut on the sides, that’s because they haven’t done overscan adjustment before shooting the video. They are using Ubuntu 11.10 (Linaro) because that’s the version released by Freescale that supports GPU and video acceleration, and if they used Ubuntu 12.04, it would not work until Freescale releases the proper drivers. However, scrolling does not seem particularly fast on the demo. so I guess acceleration does not work on the stick right now. Hopefully, they will make another video showing 2D/3D performance and 1080p video playback in Linux.

I was supposed to receive a sample, but the seller who wanted to send me one decided to (temporary) discontinue the product (Hi802), so I won’t be able to try it for now. The image (8GB) has not been released yet, but it should be available within the next few days.

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16 Comments
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S
S
11 years ago

This could be the basis of a great XBMC box if and when full 2D hardware accelleration is supported well. No need for android here ;)….

earl cameron
earl cameron
11 years ago

full hw accell…that us great, do freescale offer those drivers for download or are they just giving an ubuntu image with the drivers already installed?

m][sko
11 years ago
Murat
Murat
11 years ago

It looks like ubuntu is running awfully slow in this video. It takes forever to launch firefox and again it takes too much time to completely load a web page. I can’t imagine how many minutes it would take to render a heavy page like theverge.

I’m not sure they have gpu hw acceleration working in this beta release of ubuntu.

Noskcaj
Noskcaj
11 years ago

@Murat
that would be because ubuntu is fairly resource heavy i.e. needs more than 1gb of ram ideally. if they used lubuntu all would be fine

gnarf
gnarf
11 years ago

@Murat:
Could also be due to slow microSD Card (there are drastic differences) and internet connection speed.

deadhp1
deadhp1
11 years ago

I’ll be providing a 4GB dd image taken from a 4GB micro-sd made with the fixed script for the 11.10 beta.

I’ve also put the kernel/modules into the 12.04 ALIP linaro release and have that booting(wifi works at least)
So I’ll have a .dd image of that available also.

It’s just taking a bit of time to compress/upload them to my google drive mirror.

deadhp1
deadhp1
11 years ago

I’ve got some full disk images, the original script installation, and instructions on how to use both types up in the forum.
http://www.armtvtech.com/armtvtechforum/viewforum.php?f=137

sky770
sky770
11 years ago

Hi, I am on the lookout to buy a mini pc stick/board to setup a linux distro (may also android a bit) for basic use such as web surfing, playing movies etc. and might use it as a headless server too. And after following the development/releases in the ARM based SBC world I got cutoff from the recent developments. So, what will you suggest for my requirements? The perfect under $100 SBC? Should it be GK802, Cubieboard, Parallella, Ouya? (I know Ouya isn’t actually what I am looking for but considering its hardware specs I suppose we can install a… Read more »

sky770
sky770
11 years ago

@Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) @Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft) But i.mx6 Quad SoC has many..many negative reviews for its performance in 3-D tests, FPS tests compared to a RK3066 dual-core with Mali 400-MP(quad) (I checked out some reviews on youtube) I feel as if i.mx6 is being abandoned by developers :O even it has some really open set of docs/source? Hell, the XBMC guys choose AML’s SoC over Freescale’s i.mx 🙁 Also, looking at the ODROID-U2(powered by Exynos4412 Prime; a quad full quad SoC with quad GPU) the price is steep at $119 (about same as Ouya after shipping charges) but it has… Read more »

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